You Know, We Still Get To Keep These

Consider this just a memo to the Lakers trolls who think last night’s game was anything more than a win. The Celtics are still wearing rings. And the Finals are 6 months away.

There’s not much that can be said about last night’s game. In my opinion, the game was right there for the Celtics to take, and the Lakers just made more plays. I’m not going after the refs (although I’m still not sure how Rondo was called for an offensive foul as he was going up for a dunk). Even in the Finals, the Celtics lost 2 of 3 in LA. It’s a tough place to win. It was a great battle to watch. Congrats on your big December win, Lakers.

My big question out of last night is… what the hell was up with Ray Allen?

He took some horrible shots. He and Rondo were jawing at each other after a turnover so much that Pierce had to push Ray over to his man. Not the best game of Ray’s career by a long shot.

A loss like this can be good for the Celtics… provided they learn from it. The Lakers zone-based defense keeps their bigs stationed around the basket. Instead of slicing all the way to the basket… Rajon Rondo needs to dive into the middle and get everyone’s attention. Then kick it out to get the zone moving.

The main concern, no matter what the result was last night, was how the Celtics were going to bounce back tonight in Oakland. Will the C’s come out flat after playing in that atmosphere?

9 Responses

The other allen has me more worried then Ray

Jester00 - December 26, 2008 at 9:11 am

Agreed. When he’s bringing the ball up the court on a fast break it reminds me of watching Antoine Walker in the same situation and knowing it would end badly. He barrels down the court straight for the basket, you know he’s going to take the shot, the defender knows it and it’s almost always an offensive foul. He should be running on the wing in that situation and get the ball at the last minute for a dunk (while the defender has to move over and can’t get set). I can call this the moment the outlet pass gets thrown to him.

Ryan - December 26, 2008 at 10:39 am

Yeah, T.A. looked great early in the year, but yesterday he was very hesitant and tentative. I get a knot in my stomach when he has the ball in crucial late game situations. He is a great athlete and great penetrator, but I’d still like to see his maturity and confidence get better. Being around guys like KG, Sugar Ray and P2 will hopefully help. If not, they can always deal him for another experienced 2 or big man. Ultimately though I’d like to see him stay and progress into a cool, calm and collected T.A.
Check out my other thoughts @jameyburke.blogspot.com

You could watch TA’s body language and know when he was going to f*ck up. I’ve said it before, he’s a head case who has 6 fouls to give…not much more. I liked what I saw from Pauly stepping in and pushing Ray where he needed to go…thats what Captains do. And to all the douche bag laker trolls- I didn’t see anything that concerned me. You f*cking idiots can’t play the rapist and the other starters that many minutes in a 7 game series. Props to Doc for sticking with the usual rotation.

Lakerhater (the original) - December 26, 2008 at 2:40 pm

OK, Have Fun With Your 1 Ring in 27 Years

Lakers Have had what, 6 ‘Chips since then? hahahahaha

LADYNASTY - December 26, 2008 at 2:54 pm

Listen, Im not going to come on here and troll. Yesterday was a great game against the two best teams in the league.

The problem I have is that Celtic fans need to stop complaining about the refs. We can go back and talk about the ridiculous free throw differential from the Finals but I wont. We can talk about the illegal screens the Celtics run, but I wont. Its part of the game. The refs let the Lakers and Celtics play. Were there fouls on each side? Yeah there was. But its better then having a whistle every 5 seconds.

Lastly, this game did not mean as much to Laker fans as you are making it out to be. Its a Christmas day game. Its Celtics Lakers. It was a big win for us. Just like it would have been if you would have won. All that matters to us are four wins in June against you guys.

The Lakers exposed some systemic problems in our offense. Rondo wont shoot a wide open jumper over a Kobe that is backing way off and playing the pass. The other Celtics wont pass the ball to a wide open Rondo to shoot the wide open jump shot over the backing way off Kobe. This means that Ray Allen doesn’t get nearly as good a look when he shoots and may have to resort to shooting from a couple of feet farther out. It means that Paul Pierce doesn’t have a good angle to spin off of his opponent and get to the hoop. It means that offensive rebounds will be harder to get because their will be less defensive switching necessary. I love Rondo but he doesn’t belong on the All-Star game until he can punish a defense that wont guard him. To be a star in the NBA you MUST be able to hit a wide open 18 footer. Shoot it Rondo and keep shooting it! The guy with the ball must always be the PRIMARY threat to score and demand the respect of the defense. One play in particular was Rondo on the break alone vs 2 laker defenders. Instead of him taking as close to the rim as the defense would allow, he bypassed the rim, spun in mid-air only to find himself still the only guy in green on that end of the floor.

The other thing was that TA has gotten way too predictable in the opposite aspect. He thinks in his head that the only path to salvation is to get all the way to the rim no matter what it takes and no matter which body part gets there first. The refs have decided he is no longer to be rewarded for bullying his way to the cup and if he isn’t getting to the line, his game is far less effective. Tony, try one less dribble and stopping a few feet short of the rim to rise up for 5 foot chip shot off the glass. You will still draw 2 defenders so if you miss we have a good chance of a put back. And keep working on that outside shot, it was looking pretty good until yesterday.

The lakers played better yesterday and only our character, experience and the sheer greatness of Kevin Garnett kept us in a position to win that game in the 4th quarter.